READING: The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough. This is a collection of stories of young Americans (artists, doctors, writers, architects, etc.) who went to Paris to study/work between 1830-1900 and then returned to the U.S. to make their marks on the future.
LISTENING TO: The kid is gone so I can listen to Tom Petty all day every day if I want to and no one says, "Enough already." Not everyday, not all day long, but really what's not to love about some TP every day? Don't bother to argue this, I Won't Back Down.
SWIMMING NEWS: College recruiting season has begun. Last year Matt was traveling all over visiting colleges that he was interested in and colleges interested in him swimming for them and that was, frankly, a lot of work for everyone involved. This year he gets to experience it from the other side as his coaches and team at IU are involved in interviewing and getting to know various swimmers from this year's senior high school swimming classes with thoughts of recruiting them to swim for IU next year. So far he is enjoying the process, but says that from Thursday night through Saturday morning, it is non-stop with commitments involving the process and showing the recruit around campus, etc. They are paired in groups and each group has specific things they are responsible for doing. Interesting to hear about it all from the "other side" now.
COOKING BYTES: I did much better with my food group blogging this week. I have to say, without Matt here in the evenings I find myself with a lot of extra time to throw together quick posts. And, guess what?? Nick Malgieri left a comment on my blog post this week about the the Fig and Almond Bread of his that I made, check it out here. I'm such a fan of his work, so that was very fun for me.
FAV NEW FIND: Okay, this isn't so new, but I haven't taken time to blog it before, so let's just pretend. One of the blogs I like to check in on is from a Canadian blogging friend, Helene. Here is
her blog.
Often food bloggers that have ads on their sites will do giveaways on their blog which are sponsored by various companies, etc. and people can comment on the posts in hopes that their comment will be generated randomly as a winner. Such was the case on Helene's blog with Tate's Bake Shop cookies! I was the lucky winner and to my house arrived a lovely box of goodies from
Tate's Bake Shop in New York (see photo). Inside the box was also the Tate's Bake Shop cookbook, which I was thrilled to receive, even autographed with a nice note from the author. It's a great little book of about 150 pages filled with recipes for muffins, scones, pound cakes, breads, cookies, pies, crisps, cobblers, cakes, and even a "healthy alternatives" section. I'll try to blog a few soon. Thanks Helene and Kathleen, what a wonderful surprise!
FAV THING THIS WEEK: Going down to Bloomington to see Matt (and Reyn), take him food treats, and spend some time with him. He wanted to go to the orchard and get apples, cider, and a caramel apple...like "old times," which I thought was rather sweet of him, and which I was very happy to see as I was afraid that now that he is a college guy that maybe he would not want to do those things anymore. Definitely happy to know that he still wants to do things with us old folks. Unfortunately, they had no caramel apples today...guess that means we will need to go down and visit another orchard soon. We had a wonderful time chatting over lunch, he's been really great about sharing news of his new life and making us feel a part of it all. All is well, he is very happy there. Reyn had a class assignment requiring her to shuffle around an historic neighborhood in Bloomington locating certain buildings and such so we all went and did that...you all know me, what a great afternoon!! Thanks, Reyn, for including us and making it such fun.
WEEK IN REVIEW: The weather took a dive this week and it was rainy most every day and cold when it wasn't rainy, so no swimming for me, unfortunately. I can see autumn advancing. I love autumn actually...just not what comes after it. Mark enjoyed the short 4-day work week, and it did make the week go quickly. Those Hawks lost to the Cyclones in three overtimes, not a good thing. The Hoos, while never expected to win, did show some shining moments with their new head coach and lost by only 3 points, giving fans all a treat of some exciting plays and real hope until the last few seconds of actually being able to win the game! Next week.
PRAYING FOR: For all the families still grieving their losses from 9-11, please join me.